Lars Ulrich Sells Adjoining San Francisco Mansions for $68 Million, Marin Land for $16 Million

Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich has sold two adjoining mansions in San Francisco’s Presidio Heights neighborhood for a combined price of nearly $68 million, with both properties changing hands on the same day. In a separate deal completed in recent weeks, Ulrich also sold a 161-acre parcel atop King Mountain in Marin County for $16 million to a conservation group that intends to open the land to hikers.

• The Presidio Heights sale, if counted as a single deal, would rank as the second-largest private home sale in San Francisco history, trailing only Laurene Powell Jobs’ $71 million purchase on Billionaire’s Row in 2024.
• Ulrich bought both homes from Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff roughly ten years ago for a combined $36 million, meaning the recent sale nearly doubled his original investment.
• The Marin land, near Kentfield atop King Mountain, was bought for $16 million by the Marin Open Space Trust using a grant from the Shelby Cullom Davis Charitable Fund.
• Ulrich’s two Bay Area sales together add up to roughly $84 million over the past several weeks.

Who bought Lars Ulrich’s Presidio Heights mansions?

The identities of the buyers behind the $68 million Presidio Heights purchase have not been made public. Records show the two properties were acquired by trusts controlled by Robert Joseph St. Aubin, who a 2020 Securities and Exchange Commission filing links to trusts associated with Airbnb chief executive Brian Chesky. Chesky did not respond to a request for comment, and no source has confirmed that he or anyone connected to him is actually behind the purchase.

How Lars Ulrich acquired the two San Francisco homes

Ulrich picked up both Presidio Heights properties from his longtime friend Marc Benioff in two separate deals. The larger of the pair, a 16,000-square-foot residence at 3277 Pacific Ave., cost Ulrich $30 million in May 2017 and was purchased through a trust tied to the family office firm WG & S. The smaller home, a 6,000-square-foot house at 3230 Jackson St., was bought from Benioff for $6 million in October 2018 through a separate trust overseen by entertainment attorney Edwin McPherson.

The Pacific Avenue mansion has its own architectural pedigree: it was designed in 1913 by San Francisco architect Willis Polk, drawing on the look of an Italian palazzo, and was later remodeled in the 1990s for then-owner Mickey Drexler, the former Gap and J.Crew chief executive, by designer Thierry Despont. Benioff had purchased the smaller Jackson Street house for $7.5 million in 2000 and then bought the Pacific Avenue estate from his neighbor Drexler for $25 million five years later.

Marin County’s King Mountain land will become public open space

Ulrich’s 161-acre King Mountain property near Kentfield had a long history tied to plans for his own private residence, including an architect-designed compound that reached the foundation stage before construction was abandoned. That chapter has now ended with the site’s sale to the Marin Open Space Trust, which used funding from the Shelby Cullom Davis Charitable Fund to complete the purchase and intends to eventually let the public access parts of the summit.

Marin’s chief of planning, real property and government affairs, Carl Somers, described the acquisition as a long-shot outcome finally coming true for the county. “It’s an impossible dream” come true, he said, adding, “All of a sudden there are a lot of really happy people who never thought they would see this day.”

Listing agent Steve Mavromihalis of Compass said the Davis family reached out to the sellers roughly three months before the deal closed and that he worked directly with representatives of the trust rather than disclosing the sellers’ identity. He characterized the outcome as a broad win for everyone involved, saying, “This was a win-win-win. It was a win for the community first and foremost. It was a win for the family who felt like this is really well-spent money. It was a win for the trust that owned the property and had been thinking for decades, ‘What’s the best thing to do with this?'”

Architect Stanley Saitowitz, who designed the never-completed compound Ulrich once planned for the ridge, recalled how far the project had progressed before it was shelved. “It’s quite an amazing piece of land, a beautiful parcel with views of Mount Tamalpais,” he said. “We actually broke ground and poured the foundation before they decided to stop construction.”

More Info

• Metallica’s Lars Ulrich once planned a $40 million mansion on this California ridge; now 161 acres are be | timesofindia.indiatimes.com
• Metallicas Lars Ulrich Sells Adjoining Mansions for $68 Million | Consequence
• Master of properties: Lars Ulrich’s recent Bay Area real estate sales drum up nearly $85 million | sfstandard.com